Making travel work since 1962
About BUNAC
Hey, we're BUNAC! And we've been shaping the way students and 18-30s see the world for over 60 years.
Part of the JENZA Travel Group – a family of work, camp + intern brands for students and 18-30s
Meet the travel fam
The grown ups
The JENZA Travel Group is our parent company and also includes our Irish youth work and travel brand, USIT.
The camp one
Founded in 1962 and launching our first camp program in 1972, BUNAC is our dedicated Summer Camp USA brand.
The work one
Our 'never coming home' sibling brand, JENZA is all things working holidays and international internships for the rest of the world.
Our story
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A bit about us
Where it all began...
About BUNAC
Founded in 1962 by two students, our founders knew that crossing borders had the power to break down barriers and build cultural connections. (They were also British, so understood that staying in the UK for the summer could be meteorologically dicey). So, they chartered a plane, got a gang together, and started running cultural exchanges to the USA. Ten years later, BUNAC launched its famous Summer Camp USA program – and we’ve been saving summers from average jobs at home ever since!
Why the history lesson...
Why BUNAC
60+ years later, our purpose has never been more important. We believe that travel is one of the most impactful things you can do in your twenties – and we're on a mission to open up as many cabin doors as we can for our travellers. A heritage brand with a challenger spirit, BUNAC has led the way in shaping the camp world – always pushing for the highest salaries and even pioneering the first camp hiring pool to give our travellers more choice over their camp placement.
A brief history of BUNAC
1962 The British Universities North America Club (BUNAC) was officially founded as a non-profit by uni students Christopher Harbour and Martin Truscott
1963 BUNAC chartered its first transatlantic flight program with 1,530 travellers – a return flight was just £59!
1966 The Exchange Visitor Program (now known as Work USA) was created for UK university students to work over in America
1972 BUNAC’s Summer Camp USA program was established, sending 351 happy campers to work for the summer in the States
1986 After years of lobbying, the Canadian Government gave its approval for a flexible work program – to become Work Canada
1988 BUNAC UK begins receiving Australia, New Zealand and Canadian students
1989 Our Work Australia program is launched
1992 BUNAC turns 30 and sends its 150,000th participant
2009 BUNAC becomes a UKVI sponsor for the GAE visa program, now known as JENZA Intern UK
2018 We launch Work Japan - enabling 18-30s to work in Japan with English-speaking ski jobs
2022 We recruit our first Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) of 18-25 year olds to help keep Gen Z voices at the centre of what we do
2023 The JENZA Travel Group, now made up of BUNAC and USIT, launch our new work and travel brand JENZA into the Australia, NZ, UK and US markets
2023 We launch our Youth Access Scholarship Fund, where we donate 5% of profits to open up work overseas opportunities to more young people
2024 Going back to our 1972 summer camp roots, BUNAC becomes our dedicated summer camp brand!
Bunac x Jenza
Working the world together
Wondering what happened to BUNAC working holidays and internships? Here's Reggie to explain. Although JENZA and BUNAC are the same team behind-the-scenes with similar work abroad programs, we had different brand names in different countries. Which was something of a headache for our team – and probably a little confusing for you guys! So, we had a do-over. Going back to our 1972 camp roots, BUNAC is now everything Summer Camp USA, and JENZA is all things working holidays and international internships. Same team, same programs - one happy family of work, intern and camp brands.
The good stuff
Working on our mission
Committed to our three values – Authenticity, Accessibility, Accountability (and our un-official fourth value of not being an A-hole) – we're working towards doing better for our people, our community and our planet. We work with our Youth Advisory Panel of 18-25 year olds to help keep youth voices at the heart our business, we're on track to become B-Corp certified, and we donate 5% of profits to our Youth Access Scholarship Fund to help support young people to have the life-shaping experience of working overseas.
Visa sponsors for Intern UK
Founding our first student exchange program to the UK in 1966, today, BUNAC remains one of the largest A-rated visa sponsors for our JENZA Intern UK program. If you're an international student looking to get ahead with a 1-12 month UK internship, head to our JENZA site for all the internship intel!
JENZA Travel International Ltd, trading as BUNAC, is a company registered in Dublin, Ireland with Registered Company No. 707281 and registered address at 29-31 South William St, Dublin, Ireland, D02 EY96.